According to WorldNetDaily's headline story on October 7, President Bush has once again displayed his lack of thoughtfulness with the statement that people of all religions pray to the same God.Posted on 10/07/2007 3:14:29 PM PDT by EternalVigilance
According to WorldNetDaily's headline story on October 7, President Bush has once again displayed his lack of thoughtfulness with the statement that people of all religions pray to the same God.
This president often seems intent on proving right the vicious critics who ridicule him as someone who simply lacks the intelligence the presidency requires. Of course their criticism, aside from smacking of the arrogant elitism all too characteristic of left wingers, misses the mark. The president's remark isn't evidence of stupidity, or even, as some Christian critics would have it, of simply theological ignorance. Rather, it bespeaks a lack of thoughtfulness, the kind of common-sense pondering that, from his youth, characterized Abraham Lincoln (also a man criticized in his day for his lack of intelligence, by the way).
In particular, it bespeaks a failure to think through the basic premises of constitutional self-government, as they were eloquently and simply stated in the Declaration of Independence.
The Declaration declares that all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights. People these days, when they remember the Declaration at all, tend to focus on the rights and forget the Creator. President Bush's embarrassing remark may be the result of this myopia. If we remember and reflect on the Declaration's reference to the Creator, we realize that it invokes the authority of the Creator God as the basis for our claim to unalienable rights. It invokes that authority as governing all human beings, not just those who believe in or pray to Him.
This suggests a simple amendment in Bush's remark that would reflect the self-evident truth asserted in the Declaration. All human beings are subject to the same God. All human beings in their very nature reflect the substance of God's will. All human beings, regardless of their religion, and indeed even if they deny the existence of God or any god, have at the very heart of their being, the dictates of the Creator that make their existence possible, dictates reflected in their consciences even when they consciously mistake or deny the One whose will inscribed them there.
These statements about the universal sovereignty of God reflect the wisdom of America's Founding generation, wisdom that requires no more intelligence or sophistication than it takes to read a computer's instruction manual to learn how it works, or return it to the folks who made it for repairs. The word authority refers in the first place to authorship, a fact our common sense recognizes long before we learn the word. Whether we acknowledge it or not, we are subject to the dictates of the One who fashioned our being. We operate as He has prescribed, even when we refuse consciously to acknowledge or cooperate with His being.
I think the Christians who criticize Bush for his lack of theological understanding have therefore missed the most disturbing implication of his statement. Apparently, the President of the United States has never thoughtfully considered the premise of our existence as a nation. The man sworn to the greatest responsibility to uphold, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States apparently doesn't understand the idea that it is founded upon. How can he defend what he does not understand? How can he uphold the Constitution if he cannot defend the ground upon which it stands?
I think it would be unfair, however, to leave the impression that President Bush is somehow unique in his failure to grasp the common-sense wisdom that reveals the possibility of human liberty. In fact, he simply reflects what is now the prevalent defect of our governing elites, whose fancied sophistication has cut them off from the wisdom of America's Founding generation. They think that God has authority over people because they pray to Him. They think that He is a convenient figment of human need and imagination, conjured up as humanity creates itself out of the chaos of material evolution. This may give comfort to human pride and arrogance, but it offers none to those who seek justice when the strong survive and dominate at the expense of human life, human dignity, and human freedom.
I think President Bush is right to seek some way to make it clear that the war against terror is not a religious crusade against Islam. I only wish he had the ability to make this point without denying the difference that, in truth, distinguishes one religion from another and Christianity from all the rest. He reaches for some way to express the universal truth that America fights for in the war against the terrorists, even as we fought for it in the wars against the Communists or the Nazis. But like the rest of his elite brethren, he can no longer see this truth, or express it without shame.
Justice is not the good of the stronger. It is not the survival of the fittest. It is the universal birthright of all humanity, established not by our laws, not by our triumphs, and not even by our prayers, but by the will of the Creator. Though some may pray to Him, and others not, all are entitled to be treated according to His will. Whether they are Christians, Jews, or Muslims, pagans, agnostics, or atheists, all people are His creatures, by nature equal until, by denying His justice to others, they bring His judgment against themselves.
President Bush is wrong to imply that Americans can believe that all religions are equal. (After all, those who deny the authority of the Creator deny the truth that makes our freedom possible.) We do believe that by God's will, His justice applies to all, even those who are mistaken in their beliefs. This is the American creed, in view of which all humanity may live without fear, so long as they give to the rights of others the respect it offers to their own.
President Bush would be well advised to think upon and even borrow these reflections. America will be better off when we have a president who borrows them from our Founders and thinks of them on his own.
Click here for more articles by Alan Keyes
Alan Keyes is a good man. He would make a fine president. He has my vote in the Ohio primary.
Alan Keys is a captivating speaker. He is eloquent and grabs you by the depth of what he says. He is a little too religious for me but I like him over many.
Yes, he is a good man. I had the honor to have dinner with him a few years ago, and he is a down to earth, decent person.
For one world government you have to have only one god. That god won’t be the Father of Jesus Christ.
It’s a serious shame that Alan Keyes isn’t included in Tuesday’s upcoming GOP Presidential debate!
I will never do so again. Why? Because of his foolish adaptation of the reparations mantra. He sounds the same as Sharpton or Jackson. Sorry, Alan.
Judging from some of the responses on the thread about President Bush’s comments, I’d say that scorn for his remarks is widespread among the conservative side as well.
Actually, what he proposed, in a completely “what if” conversation, was the exact opposite of anything those leftists propose.
BTTT. Our finest living orator.
He really is.
However, I wish folks understood better what the source of that powerful communication skill is.
Jesus said, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”
Dr. Keyes has done the life work of deeply thinking the founding principles of our country through in a way that no one else I know of has. That’s why he can do with words what no one else can. He has so internalized these principles that they just flow as naturally from him as water springs from an artesian well. It’s a truly amazing thing.
Hope you’re doing well.
He does. And this one must have just sprung from his pen. The story he was responding to just came out this morning.
Awesome!
Dr. Keyes has done the life work of deeply thinking the founding principles of our country through in a way that no one else I know of has.
Very well said. He is a tremendous thinker and committed to seeking the Lord's will for our country. I think time will reveal him as a prophetic voice.
I wish our system had a real place for his gifts. I truly don't think running for President is the right thing; the President was not intended by the Founders to be a philosopher-king figure.
At one time, Congress included great men (among the dross ...), but these days it seems to be mostly dross, with some decent and intelligent, but not truly grand, members. My own Congresscritter, for example, Mrs. Sue Myrick, is a good person and an honest legislator, but she doesn't show the deep identification with fundamental principles that I'd like to see.
You expect “principles” from a politician? lol
He’s not a Presidential candidate. But he’s played one on TV.
I think if the American people realized what a national treasure he is, they’d elect him in a minute. And, in my opinion, he’d be one of the best presidents in our history. He knows the world, he knows the country, he knows our form of government, and he understands the principles that its all built on better than anyone else.
Mrs. Myrick has principles! As I said, she’s a good person and an honest representative. You know what you’re getting, if you vote for her.
However, I don’t get the impression that she’s thought deeply about Constitutional principles. It’s more on a practical level with her - we can improve this, we can reform that, when I’d like to see, “The Federal government shouldn’t be doing *anything* in this area!” (Education, housing, health care, etc.)
Now in our county and town government, everyone seems to agree that all the candidates are crooks. The challenge is to figure out who owns them, so you can guess at what they’re likely to do in office. Very tiresome!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.